Adventure: Presque Isle

The endless expanse of Lake Erie can make one quickly forget that it's not really the ocean. Erie is so much like a seaside port in an otherwise landlocked Pennsylvania that it has become something of a destination for weekend warriors. Of particular intrigue: the soft sands of Presque Isle. As an early nation, the American militias including General Mad Anthony used the coves as a staging ground for naval battles. Before that, French explorers dubbed it with its current moniker, which translated from French means "Almost an Island" (completely appropriate as a slender sand bar keeps this lengthy peninsula anchored to the mainland.) Even earlier than that, and Native American legend explains its very existence.

According to the old tales of the Erie tribe, for generations the people of the Erie nation lived along the fertile banks peacefully, never journeying into its waters. They were protected by their savior, the Great Spirit. But one fateful evening the most adventurous men in the tribe took to lake in wooden canoes to find the place where the Sun sunk into the lake at sunset. The lake spirits were angered by their arrogance and set forth a great storm to dump them into turbulent waters, but the Great Spirit was still watching over his chosen people, throwing his massive arm into the water from the shore to shelter the wayward paddlers. When he lifted his arm from the waves, a great sand bar remained in the shape of his appendage, forever sheltering his fledglings of the Erie tribe. Even today, maps and aerial images show the eerie shape of the peninsula of lore.

Today, Presque Isle is an incredibly popular tourist destination as an inland beach. Its overwhelming usage (and my own dislike of beaches) had prevented me from visiting since I was young, but when my old pal Ber-Ber asked me to join her there for camping I couldn't let her down. We were joined by our friends Buddy and Jas for a few days of shorefront camping and casual hiking. This isn't really adventurous, but I like the old legend and everything is just so photogenic.

See just how nice the pictures look after the jump!

After driving out onto the Peninsula, we stopped to stretch our legs at a nice view across the bay to the skyline of the city of Erie. Even though it looks cloudy it's really not; it's just really hazy from the heat.

Being a history buff, of course I had to stop at Perry's Monument. This stone tower was built to honor Commodore Perry's efforts in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812... a series of skirmishes that were staged from the protection of this very bay. It's almost as though the Great Spirit adopted the American Navy, eh?

Next we headed down to the harbor to watch boats coming in and out of the channel at the north pier light. Sitting out on the pier was nice but holy shit there was a lot of frickin boat traffic.

 

 As we continued to circle the shores of the isle, we eventually ended up on the northern beaches where we stopped to relax and see the old lighthouse, constructed in the 1800's and still in operation. Beautiful.

 

Finally it was time to set up camp for the night. The tourists had retreated and the sun was setting, leaving us with just the sound of the waves as we cooked over a portable stove and sat around a crackling fire in the sand. The view from the tents couldn't be beat.

 

We spent a few more days at the campsite, but spent our time relaxing along the beaches, hiking in a gorge, investigating an old ghost, and hitting up the town. But every evening we were treated to sunsets that just couldn't be beat.

That's all from Lake Erie, folks... the next posting will be much less touristy. I promise.

Tally-ho!

-Crash